As the team entered Reid's hospital room, they took in the image of their friend lying there. Reid always looked so innocent when he slept, but his youth was extra apparent when he was in the hospital – which was all too often for the team's liking.

Reid's head wound had been cleaned and bandaged, as were numerous spots on his arms where they knew he had been hit with the belt. His torso was covered by a blanket and his hospital gown, but they could be sure more small bandages were present, as well as a large one where he had been stabbed. Reid had a nasal cannula to help him breathe. One arm had an IV bag attached, giving him fluids and medication. In the other arm he was still receiving a blood transfusion.

JJ made it to Reid's side first. She held his left hand and brushed hair out of his face. His skin was still quite pale, but a marked improvement over when they'd found him in the basement.

Garcia took her post at the other side of Reid's bed. This was the first she was seeing of him since the video had gone dead, and she was glad to be able to set her eyes on him in person. She kissed his forehead gently and spoke softly in his ear. "We're all here for you, Reid. You can wake up whenever you're ready."

Emily and the men hung back, close but not too close. They knew it would be uncomfortable for Reid to wake up to everyone surrounding his bed.

JJ continued to fuss over Reid, straightening his blanket. She was so happy to have him back, but she couldn't help but think about everything Reid had been through in the last two days. "I always hate this part," she said sadly.

Morgan responded. "What part, JJ?"

She sighed and looked down at Reid's face. "The part where we realize that just because we saved him, doesn't mean he's going to be okay."

With that the room fell into silence as the team contemplated the mental state Reid would be in when he woke.

Pain was the first thing that Reid registered. It was not as pronounced as before, but it was still very present. That was how Reid knew he was still alive. He opened his eyes slowly, anxious but also nervous to find out where he was. Part of him thought he would open his eyes and still be in that horrible basement.

The hospital smell hit him just as the sight of his friends did, and he immediately knew where he was. He felt a tremendous sense of relief. He was safe.

They were all here, he realized. Emily and JJ stood by the window, talking in hushed tones. Rossi and Hotch stood on the other side of the room, doing the same. To his right, he saw that Garcia had her hand on his and was sitting beside his bed with her head turned away from him. Directly beside her, Morgan had also pulled a chair up to the bed. The two were talking to each other and hadn't noticed Reid had awoken.

Reid had a moment of fear that he would still be paralyzed. He was relieved when he tried and succeeded in squeezing Garcia's hand. She reacted immediately, looking down at their hands and then up to Reid's face, a giant smile on her face the moment her eyes met his.

It was Morgan who spoke first, a smile appearing on his face as well. "Hey pretty boy. It's good to see you awake."

Morgan's voice gained the attention of the other four agents, who quickly moved closer to the bed. Reid looked around and saw smiles on all of their faces. He offered a weak smile in return. He cleared his throat before speaking, something he realized he hadn't done in quite some time. "It's good to see you all, too. Could I have some water?"

JJ was quick to pour a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table, and offer it to Reid. He slowly lifted his head to reach the straw sticking out of it. The water felt like heaven on his throat. After a few sips, he nodded gratefully to JJ, who set the cup down.

Reid tried to adjust himself to sit up further on the bed, but this just led to an involuntary gasp of pain from the stab wound. Garcia immediately jumped in. "Here, let me get that for you, sweetie." She grabbed the bed's control and adjusted it into a seated position for him, and then proceeded to adjust and fluff his pillows.

Reid tolerated the fussing for a few moments before speaking up. "Thank you Garcia. That's good." She reluctantly stopped moving the pillows around and sat back down, picking Reid's hand back up as she did so. He gave it another squeeze, and she returned the gesture.

Rossi, who had been observing in silence, chose this moment to speak up. "So how are you feeling, kid?"

Reid thought about it for a moment. He was in a lot of pain, but he didn't want the team to know this. He worried that they would encourage him to take some stronger pain medications, and that was a risk he wasn't willing to take. Mentally, he felt he was fairing pretty well considering the circumstances. Though, he knew he was likely still in a bit of shock from the experience, and needed a while to sort through it all. So he settled on saying, "I'm tired, but I'm okay."

Hotch chimed in. "The doctor says you'll be fatigued for a while. We'll let you get some rest."

Reid knew he had let a momentary look of worry cross his face at that. Morgan piped up. "Don't worry kid. One of us will stay with you. We aren't going to let you wake up alone."

Reid smiled at that. "Thanks. But you all should go home and get some rest. You look awful," he quipped. Laughter erupted in the room, easing some of the tension in the air.

Emily retorted, "you're one to talk. You should see yourself." After a moment of silence, her tone of voice got more serious. "We're so glad to have you back, Reid. You have no idea." She rested a hand gently on Reid's leg.

Reid yawned and suddenly found his eyelids getting heavy. "It's nice to be back," he said, before drifting off to sleep.

Reid felt himself awaking once more. When he opened his eyes this time, the room was much darker than before. The only light in the room came from a dim lamp on the bed's side table. He realized it must be nighttime.

He looked around the room and saw that there were flowers and balloons on his bedside table. There was also a stuffed bear on his bed, tucked into the crook of his arm, which he quickly threw to the bottom of the bed. Garcia, he thought, shaking his head.

There was only one other occupant in the room, and it was the team member he had least expected to be sitting at his bedside in the middle of the night.

Aaron Hotchner sat beside Reid in a very hard-looking hospital chair, eyes closed, cell phone in his hand. It looked like he had fallen asleep texting or answering emails.

Reid attempted to be quiet so as not to wake the man. He knew that the team had likely gotten little to no sleep while searching for him, and he didn't want to deprive the man of the sleep he was getting now, even if it looked quite uncomfortable.

Reid lay still for several minutes, trying to get back to sleep; but he grew more and more uncomfortable as time passed. Laying alone in the quiet and the dark with nothing but his thoughts felt too similar to being in the basement, under the influence of the neural inhibitors. He desperately needed something to distract him, and decided he could sit still no longer. Reid shifted in his bed, attempting to find the control to put the bed up to sitting position. As he found it and hit the button, his boss stirred and opened his eyes.

"Reid, you're awake," he said in surprise. He instantly sat up straight and pocketed his cell phone. "Can I get you anything?"

Reid shook his head, noting that it pounded as he did so. "No, I'm okay thanks. What are you doing here? You should be home with Jack." Reid was sorry that he had awoken his boss, but glad for the company and the distraction.

Hotch smiled. "We promised you that someone would be here when you woke up. Besides, Jack insisted that I stay and make sure that his Uncle Spencer was okay. He's quite fond of you, you know."

Reid smiled, thinking of the boy. Jack didn't get much time with his dad. It was touching that he was willing to give some of it up for him. "Well I appreciate you being here. It means a lot."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Hotch's face became a little more serious as he changed the subject. "How's your pain level? They can give you a sedative if you want to sleep until the pain level is a little more manageable." Hotch wasn't planning on mentioning this, but he could see that the young man was trying to hide his pain, and wanted him to have the option. He had no idea what was going through the young man's head. Besides, after the ordeal he had just been through, Reid deserved to have control over something in his life; a luxury that had been taken away from him while he was in captivity.

Reid quickly shook his head. "No, thank you. It's not that bad." He was lying about the pain level, but the last thing he wanted was for there to be more drugs in his system right now. Reid looked down to his arm and saw the IV sticking out of it. He had a sudden need for it to be gone. He contemplated ripping it out, but quickly decided against it. There was no way Hotch would allow him to do so. Instead, he asked, "Hotch, can you get them to take out the IV?"

Hotch shook his head. He had anticipated this question, given that Reid just spent two days incapacitated by an drug fed to him through an IV line. "I already asked. They said that you still need it to replenish your fluids. They will re-evaluate in the morning. As soon as it's not necessary, I'll get them to remove it," Hotch promised.

Reid nodded and tried to get the feeling of the IV off his mind. He again felt the need to get up and move around. He had been immobile for so long that sitting still now seemed torturous.

He threw the blankets off of him and went to to swing his legs off of the bed. He let out an involuntary moan and stopped, as the motion aggravated his numerous injuries.

Hotch stood and put a hand on Reid's shoulder to prevent him from further movement. "Reid, what are you doing?"

Reid sighed. I might as well be honest, he thought. He looked down as he spoke. "Hotch, I can't sit still right now. I need to move around. Otherwise it feels like I'm back in that basement." He hesitantly looked up to Hotch's face, expecting to see pity. Instead, he was relieved to see understanding.

"I get what you're saying, but you're in no shape to be moving around. Why don't you get some rest, and we can go for a walk in the morning if the doctor says it's okay?" Hotch desired nothing more than to give Reid what he wanted, after all he had been through. The last thing Hotch wanted was for Reid to start having flashbacks to the traumatic experience he had just been through.

Reid sighed, but recovered himself with the blankets. "Okay fine, I'll stay in bed. But I'm not tired."

Hotch couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face as Reid said these words. He sounded just like Jack at bedtime.

Reid actually was getting a little sleepy, but resting was the last thing he wanted to do. He had spent so much time alone in that basement, blindfolded and unable to move. Closing his eyes put him right back there.

Hotch suspected that Reid was being less than truthful about being tired, but decided not to push the man. "That's fine, we can stay up for a bit. Morgan will be here in a few hours, what do you want to do until then?"

Reid thought for a moment. "Other than actually get up out of bed, I'm not sure. What did you have in mind?"

Hotch smiled and reached his hand into his go bag, which sat beside him on the floor. He pulled out a deck of cards. "How about some poker?" He was delighted to see the smile that broke out on Reid's face.

I am so sorry about the delay between posts this time around. Life got in the way. But I am determined to wrap up this story soon, and start working on some other ideas I have as well. Thanks for reading!